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KDOC-TV first signed on the air on October 1, 1982; the station was initially owned by locally-based Golden Orange Broadcasting, whose investors included entertainer Pat Boone. The station's original studio facilities were located on South Clementine Street in Anaheim. At the time of its original sign-on it was the fifth independent station in the Los Angeles market, alongside KTLA (channel 5), KHJ-TV (channel 9, now KCAL-TV), KTTV (channel 11) and KCOP (channel 13). KDOC carried programs from conservative commentator Wally George and televangelist Dr. Gene Scott until their respective deaths in 2003 and 2005. During this period, the station was also popular for weekend broadcasts of Asian programming, which gained a significant non-Asian audience with the broadcast of the 1984–1985 (subtitled) Japanese Miyamoto Musashi television series.

In the fall of 1988, KDOC embarked on the station's first brief foray in television news. KDOC began producing NewsWatch 56, a primetime newscast at 8 p.m. anchored by Michelle Merker (also the station's public affairs director) and Pat Matthews (then a radio newscaster from New Orleans). The program was moved frequently: first to 7 p.m., then to 9 p.m., and finally to 11 p.m. During that time, the station rebranded the program as Orange County NewsWatch, and then KDOC NewsWatch. In 1992, KDOC stopped producing full-fledged newscasts; the station instead produced local news updates.

On April 4, 2006, Bert Ellis, along with Anaheim Ducks owners Henry Samueli and his wife Susan, bought KDOC for $149.5 million from Golden Orange Broadcasting. The sale closed in May 2006, placing KDOC under the ownership of Ellis Communications, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta, Georgia-based Titan Broadcast Management.

In September 2006, KDOC made changes to its programming schedule and debuted a new slogan (Endless Classics, a reference to the Beach Boys album and the 1966 film The Endless Summer) and logo. The lineup included more current syndicated repeats, Anaheim Ducks hockey, some movies, as well as hours of paid programming. In 2008, the station's programming began moving away from the "Endless Classics" format adding more recent comedies, and talk and judicial shows that have ended production.[1]

In September 2008, KDOC launched a new website. The new website brought a new look, promoting the station's new programming format, and removing the forum section for viewers to post questions and comments on KDOC-TV programming that many stations provide.[2] The Endless Classics logo was replaced in late 2009.[3] In the fall of 2009, the station added ESPN Plus' syndication package of Southeastern Conference football and men's basketball (now branded as SEC TV), and added its coverage of Big 12 Conference men's basketball during the 2010-11 season. The SEC TV syndication package ended in 2014 because of the launch of the new SEC Network as part of a 20-year deal between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN.

On July 4, 2011, KDOC launched a new, revised website, as well as a new station logo (minus the "-TV" after the KDOC call letters), a new color scheme, programming promotions for KDOC's main channel (56.1) and Me-TV subchannel (56.3), videos, and news headlines for both Los Angeles and Orange counties. On December 3, 2012, the station unveiled a new branding campaign, this time rebranding itself as "LA 56".

On May 11, 2015, KDOC dropped the "LA 56" branding after more than two-and-a-half years of use and reverted to identifying by its call letters. This also includes the branding on the KABC-produced newscasts, which have since been rebranded as ABC 7 Eyewitness News on KDOC-TV.

KDOC began digital broadcast operations on February 18, 2004 at 12:19 p.m. The station shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 56, at noon on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[5] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 32, using PSIP to display KDOC-TV's virtual channel as 56 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

On April 4, 2011,[7][8] Ellis Communications parent company Titan Broadcast Management was announced, along with other television station groups (such as Hearst, Capitol Broadcasting, Raycom, Cox and Media General among others) to be among the station owners that signed affiliation agreements with Me-TV, a network focusing on classic television programming that is owned by Weigel Broadcasting.[9] The network was launched on KDOC 56.3 on June 13, 2011 as Me-TV Los Angeles. On September 19, 2011, KDOC's main channel adopted a new contemporary programming format, thus positioning Me-TV Los Angeles to be the network for classic television programs that once aired on KDOC.[10]

Although KDOC continues to carry Me-TV on subchannel 56.3, KVME-TV in Bishop (with a low-power translator station in Banning) became affiliated with Me-TV on April 30, 2012. That station carries Me-TV on their primary digital channel 20 (virtual channel 20.1), which is also available on the DirecTV and Dish Network local packages tier for the Los Angeles market. Both stations market the subchannel as "Me-TV Hollywood", changing from KDOC's previous brand of "Me-TV Los Angeles". Local advertising for Me-TV Hollywood will be completed by a jointly managed ad sales team for both stations.[11] However, KVME's Me-TV feed does not carry the full schedule of programming, electing to carry Spanish-language religious and paid programming during the early morning weekday hours of 5:30 to 8am, blocking-out sitcoms such as The Beverly Hillbillies, My Three Sons, Petticoat Junction, and The Donna Reed Show. The KDOC version airs all programming intact.

On December 31, 2012, KDOC gained infamy for airing a live New Year's special hosted by comedian and actor Jamie Kennedy, featuring a large number of technical issues, dead air, unedited fleeting profanity, and a fight breaking out on-stage. A montage of clips from the special went viral after it was discovered by fellow comedian Patton Oswalt.[14]

In January 2014, KDOC-TV started airing an hour-long 8 p.m. newscast produced by KABC-TV, titled ABC 7 Eyewitness News on LA56 (currently rebranded as "ABC 7 Eyewitness News on KDOC-TV"); the newscast airs seven nights a week. Concurrently, the station has also added a midnight rebroadcast of KABC's 11 p.m. newscast.[15] As of November 17, 2014, the 8 p.m. newscast has moved to the 7 p.m. timeslot, while the midnight rebroadcast of the 11 p.m. newscast has not been affected.

On September 10, 2007, KDOC-TV in partnership with the Orange County Register, launched a morning newscast named Daybreak OC. The show initially covered Orange County-specific weather, traffic and news headlines; the program was broadcast in high-definition from its launch, after the station's studios moved to the Register‍ '​s headquarters in Santa Ana, California.[16] On September 8, 2008, the program was cut to one hour, moved to late morning and focused less on news.[17] On October 14, 2008, the program was cancelled by KDOC following that day's show.[18]